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If you’re interested in brand positioning, you may have come across the work of Warren Ellish, a renowned practitioner/speaker on brand positioning and a faculty member at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Mr. Ellish will be presenting his thoughts on brand positioning at the IFA Convention February 13, 2012 (a week from today) at 10:15AM, and we thought it might be a good opportunity to ask him a few questions about brand positioning as well as his thoughts on the panel he’ll be presenting at #IFA2012.

What are the most important things for start-up franchises, especially in the crowded food market, looking to position itself?
The effective development of a clearly defined brand positioning for any new franchise brand is critical to the long-term success of that brand. Without a concise brand positioning statement with a competitive “point of difference” and complete management alignment behind that positioning, it will be difficult to communicate a clear and meaningful message about your brand. In other words this positioning will state the reason for the brand’s existence. A well-positioned brand has the power to change perception, influence preference and command loyalty. This will generate trial for the brand, increased frequency for the brand and in turn drive sales, market share and profits.

The 3 critical elements of a brand positioning statement are “Frame of Reference”, “Market Target” and “Point of Difference”.

When defining the brands “point of difference” it is important to make sure that the point of difference is preemptive, ownable and defendable. It is also very important to not let your brand’s point of difference be a point of similarity. Many franchise companies focus on important attributes of their brand but these attributes are merely nothing more than things their brand must do well just to be in the business they are in. They must be able to define and state what it is that truly sets their brand apart, what that reason is why a customer should or will choose to do business with them and choose their brand over the many alterative choices available.

Domino’s has changed its entire public perception in recent years thanks in part to a savvy social media presence. Do you have any social media guidance for franchises?
When it comes to social media, I always here people say, “we can’t control what people are saying about our brand”. They feel like the Internet is like the Wild West with no sheriffs. Brands, and the management team of those brands, most definitely have the power to control what is being said about them. If you clearly position your brand, you will be able to help your targeted users to remember what it is you want them to remember about your brand - - and then they in turn will communicate that message to others for you.

Additionally, I am a true believer that social media is an engagement medium. Brands have the opportunity to hear what their customers are saying about them in a real life situation and do something with that learning. Brands also have the opportunity to truly engage a current customer as well as future customers by making the social media tools part of the users life and making their life easier. This is way more than collecting ‘likes”, which I have not seen any data that truly correlates the number of likes your brand has to your sales, market share or profitability.

Using your Domino’s example: Since Domino’s wants to be recognized at the world leader in Pizza Delivery, they have developed a mobile and web based application that builds on this and allows customers to order what they want when they want it. The application also engages the customer by allowing them to track their order from the time it is placed until it heads out for delivery. It even allows the customer to engage with the employees working on their order and provide feedback to those same employees on how well they did. What they have done is to allow their customers to know what is happening with their order - - something of importance to those customers.

Is there a single thing that unites the marketing strategies of the country’s most successful franchises?
Each successful franchise brand most likely has a marketing strategy that is unique to their specific business situation. These franchise brands will understand their frame of reference - - or what business they are in, who their target market is and have a clearly defined point of difference that is meaningful to that audience within that frame of reference. The leadership of these franchisees understand and care about what their brand is, what it stands for, what it offers, and why it is different. These franchisee brands make their reason for being exclusive and unique and using their brand a true experience.

What can people at the IFA convention expect from your event?
My 90-minute presentation to the IFA is titled “The Three Critical Steps to Positioning Your Franchise Brand Into a World-Class Brand.” The session is being held on Monday February 13th at 10:15AM at the Marriott World Center in Orlando. My session is meant to be both entertaining and educational and allows for participation from those that are attending. I want every attendee to leave my session with specific new tools to help them have an immediate positive impact on their franchise brands. The presentation is filled with stories and real life case situations to bring the brand positioning learning to life. The technique that I will share is the same one I have used to successfully position hundreds of global, domestic, regional and local businesses.

I will provide a quick and easy exercise to allow each participant an opportunity to determine if his or her brand is strategically positioned and if its message is clearly being communicated?

I will clarify what positioning is, why it is important, and how to determine the optimum positioning for franchise brands and even attendees own personal brand.

Participants will learn how to craft brand positioning that will aid in getting their desired message across to the people they want to reach and make an impression that lasts.

Everyone will discover how to allow their brand to reach its full potential in the marketplace, and bring additional focus to their organization’s initiatives.

Attendees will even find out how to leverage their brands positioning to have a dramatic impact on raising funds for franchise growth.

There has been much consternation about the state of franchise financing in this slumping economy, but new data seems to indicate that franchise financing will increase in 2012.

Boefly, “an online small business loan marketplace that connects business owners and franchisees with over 1500 banks”, polled 133 lenders to compile data that states that “many banks plan to originate more franchise loans in 2012″ than 2011. The study also shows perhaps not surprisingly that franchises consider the access of financing to be “very important”.

Some of the other data of note, which was provided by lenders:

• 83% expect to originate more franchise loans than they did last year (94 responded)
• 44% expect to originate $1 million to $20 million in small business loans in 2012 (36 responded)
• 40% require between 11% and 20% equity injection on a start-up, and 39% require between 21% and 25% equity injection (96 responded)
• 88% are willing to fund a borrower’s first franchise unit (92 responded)
• 81.5% would consider participating in programs for veterans (54 responded)

“Based on the insight provided by both lenders and franchisors, it is clear that growth is a priority for both lenders and franchisors this year,” said Mike Rozman, Co-president of BoeFly and the webinar’s moderator.

If this data holds, it could be a bigger year for franchising than we had expected.

There are many big personalities in franchising, but none perhaps as large as Shaquille O’Neal.

The former Orlando Magic and LA Lakers just wrapped up one of the most decorated careers in NBA history last summer, but he is not resting on his laurels. You’ll see him on the TNT pre-game and post-game coverage of NBA games, of course, but Shaq has put a lot of his energy into developing his franchise brands. Not only does he already own 24-Hour Fitness and Five Guys Burger and Fries franchises, but he’s taken a big stake in Soupman.

Asked about why he was interested in the franchise by Franchise Times, Shaq spoke pretty directly “I tasted it one day,” he said. “It’s a good product with a great team. My favorite is the lobster bisque…it has lobster chunks.”

Shaq joins the likes of Reggie Jackson, Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) and Lloyd Sugarman of Johnny Rockets to play role with the soup franchise. Soup has a relatively small share of the food franchise market but with the muscle of Shaq behind it, perhaps The Original Soupman might turn soup franchises into the next sandwich franchises.

“Shaq brings the fact that he likes the soups enough to bring his fame to the endorsement,” Sugarman told the magazine. “He could endorse anything,” so endorsing The Original Soupman is a big plus for the brand, he adds.

One of the most successful managers in the history of British soccer is Alex Ferguson. The coach of Manchester United has won a staggering amount of trophies and titles during his 20+ years as manager of arguably the biggest soccer team in the world. Somehow, at ages 72, he manages to outwit rival coaches half his age while teaching the game to young men in their late teens. A few years ago, a journalist asked Ferguson doesn’t retire now seeing as he’s won every trophy imaginable. Ferguson’s answer, to paraphrase:”Because when I’ll retire, I’ll die”.

Blunt words, surely, but a statement that many facing into retirement would definitely agree with. After 30 - 40 years doing the same job, what happens to the body and mind when there is simply nothing at all to do but lead a leisurely life? Does one simply lose touch with the world and gradually fade away? One thing few retirees realize is that the end of a career does not have to mean the end to your working life. Franchising presents many, many opportunities for recently-retired people seeking a new challenge in business and in life. There are businesses that can be operated from home, at the leisure of the entrepreneur.

Co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk Nick Friedman has penned a pretty interesting article on the power of baby boomers in franchising. He provides 3 reasons why baby boomers are right for franchising:

• Boomers have the right skill set.
• Convenience.
• Motivation to be the boss.

We recommend reading the article and listening to Friedman’s argument for why baby boomers are perfect-suited to franchising. Ultimately, retirement can be a beginning, not an end.

We are three weeks into the new year and still many people are trying to get a grasp of which way the US economy will turn over the coming 12 months. Projections for the franchising industry all seem to target modest gains for 2012, and the real estate sector, which is one of the franchise sectors that bears the closest links to America’s macroeconomy, brings a similar dose of realism to its expectations for next year.

Dave Liniger, chairman and founder of Re/Max, one of the world’s biggest property franchises recently recorded a short video for Youtube that outlined his 10 predictions for the housing industry this year. There were three predictions that caught our eye which seemed to suggest that the real estate franchise market could experience sizeable growth in 2012.

• Interest rate will remain at or near historic lows.
• Home sales will make steady gains and end higher than 2011.
• Due to the changing market, consumers will increasingly rely on real estate professionals.

No one is underestimating any of the challenges ahead for real estate franchises for finding qualified home-buyers in a stuttering economy, but there is a hope anyway that if these three predictions come true, that real estate franchises could act a kickstarter for the domestic economy.